Honeymoon

I know this is way past due, but I am FINALLY writing about our honeymoon!  We had such a wonderful time and only have our fantastic friends and family to thank for the wedding money that went towards our trip.  We are so grateful :) This will be a long one, but hope you enjoy!

Thursday, September 13^th: Day 1

This was a pretty long day, as we woke up bright and early to finish packing and load up the car to begin our drive to Coeur d’Alene, where we would stay for the night.  We had lots of suitcases and bags, as well as a cooler with some food and our clothing steamer (I hate ironing).  We had planned on taking my little yellow bug since it gets better gas mileage, but didn’t know how well that would work with the large pile of things we had to take.  Surprisingly, we fit it all in the car.  The bug looks like it can’t fit much, but she hasn’t failed me yet!  We left Marysville at noon, stopped to run a few errands, and then we were off on our little road trip. 

It was so wonderful to just have hours in the car with each other to talk without anyone else.  Since we are so busy with work and have different schedules, we rarely have time with just the two of us.  That’s what I was most excited about… having time to ourselves.  One of the wedding gifts that we received was a 4-talk set on CD called “For all Eternity” by John L. Lund.  Grant’s good friends from his home ward, the Grants (no joke), gave it to us.  .  It was such a wonderful thing for us to listen to as newlyweds.  We got some great advice, and kind of evaluated ourselves based on some of the issues John Lund discussed.  We had quite a few good talks and finished all 5 CDs during our trip, since we had quite a bit of driving.  :) Thanks, Grant Family!! 

When we finally arrived in Coeur d’Alene, we had dinner at Red Robin, Grant’s favorite!  We were both pretty hungry because we hadn’t eaten since we left Marysville.  Afterward, we headed to Heath’s house to crash for the night.  Heath is engaged to Grant’s sister, Wendy, and he was gracious enough to let us stay at his place while he was out of town.  We watched a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother before bed to keep up with our running marathon (and caught up just in time to start season 8 when we got home from our honeymoon!). 

 Views from our road trip

Friday, September 14^th: Day 2

We slept in this morning, since we had a whole lot of nothing to do before we could check in at the resort at 6 pm.  We watched some more How I Met Your Mother, ate a little, watched a couple movies, and then packed up once more to finish the rest of the drive to Stoneridge Resort in Blanchard, Idaho where we would stay for the week.  It was only about an hour drive from Coeur d’Alene.  It really is in the middle of nowhere, but is a really nice resort (I guess the biggest in Idaho) and has lots to do.  They have a golf course, which Grant would have loved to spend a day on BUT his golf clubs wouldn’t have fit in the car AND I don’t golf… he didn’t want to do anything without me.  It probably would have been a waste of money for me to go anyways since I have never held a golf club in my life.  Driving range first! Haha :)

After we checked in and got settled in our room, we headed to the nearest grocery store(which was half an hour away) to stock up for the week.  We took advantage of having a full kitchen and ate at the resort as much as possible.  While planning our trip, we made a daily itinerary with meals and all so we could make an exact grocery list… one of the few ways we limited our spending on the trip.  We brought a couple things from home as well, so we had even less to buy.  While we were out, we also had dinner at a little local restaurant.  Grant had fish and chips, and they were amazing!!  Second runner up to Grandpa’s beer batter fish n chips :) When we got back to the resort, we put away the groceries, got our nightly fill of How I Met Your Mother, and headed to bed.

 Our home for the week

Saturday, September 15^th: Day 3

Our first day at Silverwood!  This was the entire reason why we decided to stay in Idaho for our honeymoon… we needed some theme park action!  Stoneridge is only a little less than half an hour away from Silverwood.  Both Grant and I have been to Silverwood more than once and kind of know our way around the park.  On our drive there, we took a walk down memory lane, sharing stories of our previous trips to Silverwood and talking about our favorite rides.  In the process, we made a plan of attack for the day.  Unfortunately, I got a headache early on in the afternoon, so our thrill rides were cut short.  However, we rode the train ride a couple times and hopped on the Ferris wheel.  For lunch, we ate at the pizza place where the magic show theater is.  We got there early enough to get seats close to the front, which resulted in the magician asking me to help him in the magic show.  He called me out when he noticed my “Bride” shirt.  Another girl in the audience and I helped him with a card trick, which totally blew my mind! After lunch and the show, we did a few more small rides and walked around the park.  We decided to take a risk and get on the log ride… We got drenched!!  Fortunately it was warm and sunny, so we dried off pretty quickly.  Besides having a headache, it was a wonderful day.  We got lots of comments on our “Bride” and “Groom” shirts.  We decided it was ok to wear them on our honeymoon to get some use out of them, since there won’t be many good excuses to wear them in the future ;) 

 The Magician

 My 15 minutes of fame :)

 Before getting drenched on the log ride

 Our view from the Ferris Wheel

 Second time on the train ride

 If you raise your camera, he raises his gun

 Buffalo on the train ride

 Getting robbed on the train

 My score is on the left and Grant's is on the right.

What can I say, I have a good shot ;)

 Aftershock!

 Driving the old cars

Sunday, September 16^th: Day 4

Another day at Silverwood!  We were both a little more into the coasters the second day, which resulted in two headaches instead of one.  Those wooden coasters are a little too shaky!  Because of that, we did the train ride a few times again, and even watched the magic show at lunch once more.  I think I figured out how he pulled off his card trick! Despite our headaches, we had another wonderful day.

 Our favorite ride

 Practicing for when we are parents :)

Monday, September 17^th: Day 5

After having breakfast at the resort, we drove an hour to a little town called Liberty Lake back in Washington.  We had pottery painting on our schedule for the day, but we first stopped at a redbox to pick up a couple movies for that night.  We also got a recommendation for a great lunch spot in Liberty Lake called Barlow’s.  It was delicious!  Grant had a burger (his typical choice when we eat out) and I had a sandwich.  We then made our way to an adorable little pottery studio in Otis Orchards called “The Pottery Bug”.  I have always loved painting pottery and thought it would be a fun Monday activity.  I warned Grant that we would probably be there for a few hours, mostly because I take my sweet time when doing something crafty.  I tend to be a perfectionist.  Poor guy was done in half an hour and had to sit and watch me paint for the next couple hours.  We had some great conversation, though. I had actually emailed the owner of the studio before our trip to make sure they could get our pottery fired by the time we were driving back through at the end of the week, so she was expecting us.  She gave us a bowl of skittles because she said she forgot to grab a bottle of sparkling cider to congratulate us.  She was so sweet!  We had a great time, and I totally recommend The Pottery Bug if you are ever in Otis Orchards!

 Grant getting in touch with his artistic side

 Birthday cake plate

 Grant's Seahawks bowl

 Stopped for a picture on our drive back

Tuesday, September 18^th: Day 6

Today, we woke up bright and early and got ready to go to the Spokane Temple.  We went to the 10 am session, so we had to leave our resort by 8:30 to be there in time.  It was our first time going just the two of us since we got married, so it was a definitely a special temple trip.  I was nervous to be going through a temple I had never been to, especially since it was my first time going without my mom.  Thankfully, the Spokane temple is so small that you basically go in a complete circle from start to finish.  After the session, we walked around the grounds and took some pictures before having a picnic lunch in the grass by the church.  It was the first picnic lunch we have had together :)  Once we finished and packed up, we made our way to Riverfront Park in Spokane, where we rode the merry-go-round and the gondola.  We were bummed that the tour train was closed for the season, but we walked around to see the sights instead.  After having our fill of the park, we went to visit Wendy at her apartment and took a little nap before going to Laser Quest.  If you like laser tag and have never been there, GO!  It is basically a three story building with the biggest laser tag maze.  It is HUGE!  Anyone can play at any time, and it’s every man for himself.  The games are 20 minutes long, but they go by so fast.  Grant and I played 2 games.  Both of us were in the top 5 in both games, and I proudly placed second in game 2.  Grant was so mad that I beat him simply because of my accuracy.  He said, “I made more hits and got shot less than you, but you still beat me!”  I had 170 points added to my score because of my accuracy, thank you very much ;)  We were both starved after laser tag, so we headed to Chili’s for dinner.  I had never eaten there before and was pleasantly surprised.  It was so yummy!

 Gondola

 The view from the gondola

 Dinner at Chili's!

Wednesday, September 19^th: Day 7

We thought it would be a good idea to spend a whole day at the resort since there was so much to do there.  We played ping-pong, pool, and some board games at the club house, and had a go at mini golf.  Their course was filled with historical artifacts and articles about Blanchard, Idaho, which made it an interesting game.  Grant won, of course... but only by a couple strokes :)  We really “vacationed” on this day; it was our one day without an actual schedule.  We relaxed, took our time, and did whatever we wanted to do… which included driving to the nearest Chili’s AGAIN for dinner.  That is how much I loved it. When we got back to the resort, we relaxed in the hot tub before cuddling with cookies, milk, and our favorite show.

 The mini golf course

 Old pro :)

We got really good at taking pictures of ourselves using

the camera timer :) 

Thursday, September 20^th: Day 8

Today we went horseback riding!  Both of us had been looking forward to this the whole week.  We drove up to Sandpoint, Idaho and had an hour and a half ride through the mountain trails.  We were the only two on the tour, which was nice.  It was so peaceful and quiet on the ride, and we had such beautiful views of the mountain ranges.  Both of us were incredibly sore by the end, though.  I forgot how uncomfortable it can be to sit on a horse for that long!  I am pretty sure my horse was tired of me being on him too, since he tried to throw me off a few times during the ride.  I was holding on for dear life!  My horse was very ornery- he would not let Grant ride next to us.  He wanted to be right behind the trail guide and his horse.  Every time Grant tried to ride next to me, my horse would turn sideways or speed up so he had to stay behind us.  A horse with road rage… it was hilarious!  After our horseback tour, we had dinner on the waterfront at a restaurant called Dish.  I had the most delicious fish tacos with avocado fries.  SO yummy!  Can you guess what Grant ate?  Yep, a burger like usual.  While waiting for our check, our waitress brought out a piece of the most magnificent chocolate mousse truffle cake with a lit candle to wish us a happy honeymoon.  Neither of us had told her we were there on our honeymoon, so I was confused as to how she knew!  I guess while I had gone to the bathroom, Grant told her we were celebrating and wanted to surprise me with a dessert.  It was the best dessert I have ever had!  A wonderful ending to a great week.

 At the top of the trail

Grant and I with my crazy horse

Friday, September 21^st: Day 9

Check-out day.  We were both not ready to leave at all, but who is ever ready to go home after a vacation?! We packed and loaded up our car for the ride home.  On our drive, we stopped in Otis Orchards to pick up our pottery, which turned out super cute.  We also stopped in Moses Lake, where we met my mom and our friend, Shirline, for lunch.  They were headed to Spokane for the weekend for Zumba.  We ate at this nice restaurant along the lake in town, and had a surprise visit from my Aunt Brenda, who lives in Moses Lake.  After saying our goodbyes, we continued on our drive.  We stopped at John and Danielle’s new house for a few hours to visit before arriving in Yakima for the rest of the weekend. 

We had such an amazing time on our trip.  I cherished spending time with JUST Grant.  We certainly love living so close to family and having Grandma Jackie open her home to us while we wait to head to school, but it was so great to get away and have time to ourselves.  We look forward to having that more often when we head off to school at the end of the year! 

Carnival Rides, First Date Replay, and More...

We have been married for a month already, and boy has it been a blissful one :)   If you have read our other blog posts, I am sure you know how happy we are and don’t need to hear it again, but we are SO HAPPY!!  Coming home to the love of your life after a long day of work, waking up to them in the morning, and all the fun perks of marriage never get old.  Something I have come to love already is grocery shopping.  We have gone together every time since we got married, and it is so fun.  We received a couple of gift cards to grocery stores that we have been able to use on our first few shopping trips, which has been such a relief since we are starting from scratch!  We have had to buy the basics and stock up our cupboard with things like flour, sugar, oil, etc. that we won’t have to buy on a regular basis, so our shopping trips have been a little bit more costly than they will usually be.  BUT, it has made marriage feel a bit more real to have to buy our own essentials like that.  You know how you become kind of partial to certain brands after having used them for some time?  Marriage means sacrifice ;)  It has been a learning experience, not only to see what kinds of foods and brands we both prefer, but also to make compromises.  It has been fun to find new things to try that we both love.  Most of you who know Grant probably know how frugal he is… lucky for me.  While I plan out our grocery list full of stuff he didn’t know existed, he is there to make sure we get the best deal.  What would I do without him?!

If you read my last blog, I wrote about making a date night jar together.  We did just last week, and it was so simple and fun.  We have 50 popsicle sticks in the jar with date night ideas, and we marked the top of the sticks that have ideas costing money… that way we can choose if we want a cheap date or one that will require some cash.  Our first date night that we drew from the jar was a TV show marathon.  The decision for which show was pretty easy… How I Met Your Mother.  It’s one of Grant’s favorites, and I have wanted to watch it from season one since I had seen a few episodes here and there.  However, because of our work schedules, there was not one day we could have sat and watched even one whole season.  We decided to turn it into a running marathon instead.  For the past week and a half we have been watching one or two (sometimes more) episodes when we are both home from work.  We are well into season two right now.  It is so wonderful knowing that I get a little mini date night every single night of the week :)

Our date night jar

On Wednesday this week, we went to the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe with my family.  It was so fun!  For the first couple hours, Grant, Serafina, and I went on lots of rides.  It made me even more excited for our honeymoon to Silverwood in a couple of weeks – I can never get enough of amusement park rides. While we were there, Grant and I took my little brother, Steven, on the “YO-YO” ride.  I thought he would like it since you just sit in a big swing and spin around, but I was totally wrong.  The first thing he said when he saw that the swings go around in a circle was, “I don’t do circles”.  So funny!  I felt really bad a little bit into the ride because he was scared and said, “Tell him to make it stop!!”.  Little Steven likes to play it safe.  I guess Serafina took my other little brother, Robbie (who is younger than Steven), on the same ride right before we had gone on with Steven.  She said Robbie totally loved it!  It cracks me up how different they are!  Anyways, we had a blast at the fair and ate some great fair food, funnel cake included :)  We even found a Michael Jackson fun house.  Best thing ever!

 Grant and I at the fair

The best fun house EVER

We have just about finished purchasing the rest of the items on our wedding registries, and have still been receiving gifts from friends and family in the mail.  Since we are at my Grandma’s house, there is a lot of things that we don’t need to use until we move for school, so most of our gifts are being stored in the spare room next to ours and in the shed.  Half of the spare room is being taken up, and I can’t believe how many gifts we have received every time I go in there!  We have such wonderful friends and family :)  I use some of the stuff we have gotten for the kitchen like our rice cooker, crock pot, and kitchenaid mixer.  The first thing I made with our mixer was cake cookies using a cake mix we also got as a wedding gift (thanks, Kassia Reed!).  I have also made pancakes, mini German pancakes, and chocolate chip banana bread.  I am extremely excited to move so that we can start using the rest of our stuff... it’s just so much fun to have your own things to cook and bake with!

The room full of gifts... this picture doesn't even 

begin to do it justice

Not only did we celebrate a month of marriage this past week, but also a year since our first date!  Some of you may not know the story of our first date, so I thought I would share.  The Monday before I left for BYU-Hawaii, Grant and I were talking after a church activity.  This is when I first found out that he was from Yakima and that we had a lot of mutual friends from there as well.  We had talked about how we both grew up going to Yakima Bears games and that my grandparents always host the players at their house during the baseball season.  Coincidentally, the Yakima Bears were in town that week playing the Everett Aquasox.  Grant said, “We should go on Friday!”, and I ecstatically responded, “Yeah!  I can ask my grandma to get tickets for us”.  So, I got his number and told him I would text him once I talked to my grandma.  A few days later, I let him know that we had two tickets for Friday night’s game, and we also planned to go back to my house and watch a movie afterwards.  The date was so much fun, and we both enjoyed being the only two people amongst a bunch of Aquasox fans rooting for the Bears :)  I was crazy about him by the end of the night, but he was a bit hard to read.  He didn’t put his arm around me, hold my hand, or even share the blanket with me when it got chilly later in the game.  After we had been dating a few weeks, he ended up informing me that when he suggested going to the baseball game, he meant a group of us from church… not just the two of us.  When I sent him the text saying I had two tickets, he thought, “Well, I guess it’s a date”.  He says that he held back quite a bit because he knew I was leaving for school really soon and didn't want things to get difficult. Such a thoughtful guy :)  To this day, we laugh about the fact that I basically made our first date happen.  I think he appreciates it simply because of how it turned out for us :) 

A couple months ago, we decided that we wanted to recreate our first date.  So, last week on the same day as our first date last year, we got two tickets from my grandma for the Aquasox vs. Bears game.  This time he actually held my hand ;)  It was great to once again be two of the few that were rooting for the Bears, but as a married couple this time.  It brought back great memories of our first date and made us both laugh to think about how it happened.

 At the Aquasox vs. Bears game

First date replay :)

Newlywed Experiences

It already feels like our wedding was decades ago, although it’s only been almost three weeks.  I come to love married life more and more every day, and can’t get enough of the love that Grant and I share.  We are both working a lot right now, which is hard to adjust to.  Sometimes I work in the mornings and come home just in time to see him off to work… and he usually doesn’t get home until around 11 at night.  There are days we barely get to see each other.  Thus, my favorite time of day right now is at night when Grant gets home from work.  We usually just watch a show and go to bed since we are both pretty tired at the end of every day.  As boring as that may sound, it is the best thing ever.  I love every second I get to spend with him, and cherish the days we both have off more than I ever have before.  There is something about being married that brings an indescribable bond.  It is such an amazing thing, but makes it hard to be away from each other.  One thing that I have noticed about us since we have been married is that we laugh A LOT more… and at the dumbest things.  BUT, it is so fun to have those little things between just the two of us that can make us laugh until we cry.  Laughter is one of the many things I have become incredibly grateful for in our few short weeks of marriage.

I have had this huge desire to cook lately, which seems extremely appropriate :)  I have made a few meals for Grant and I and have realized that cooking for two is a bit difficult.  I am so used to cooking for my family (5-7 people depending on who is home) and typically have leftovers even then.  The first thing I made after we were married was lasagna, but thankfully my family was there to eat with us.  However, our second dinner was just the two of us and I made enough for a small army!  I am sure some of you saw my Facebook post about having enough penne alfredo leftovers for a month :)  I realized through that experience that leftovers aren’t actually all that bad when you are busy like us.  Grant has dinner to take to work instead of a sandwich when we have leftovers, something I am sure he enjoys.  The most recent dinner I made was teriyaki chicken, rice and broccoli.  BUT, this time I made a ton of extra rice on purpose so that I could make fried rice with whatever rice we didn’t eat.  Grant just took a big Tupperware full of it with him to work today.  I laugh just a little as I think about the possibility of becoming so accustomed to cooking for two that it will be hard to reverse that and begin cooking for a family again when the time comes.  Life sure would be boring without these little bumps in the road :)

Grant and I are still really good about our weekly date nights, even though we have been busy.  Last week we spent a day running post-wedding errands – we went to the courthouse to pick up our marriage license, the DOL to get a new license for me, and the bank to open a couple of joint accounts for us.  We also had to return a couple things from the wedding that we didn’t use or need.  After all our running around, we had a nice, relaxing dinner at Red Lobster.  This week, I have planned something for us to do using an idea I found on Pinterest.  We are going to make a date night jar that has date night ideas written on popsicle sticks.  So on date nights from here on out, we can draw from our jar to see what we will do.  I think this will be good for us and bring some variety to date night, since we usually resort to a movie at home :)  It should be fun to brainstorm some new date ideas, too!

It seems like Grant and I both are still getting used to referring to each other as “husband” and “wife” and kind of get this little grin on our faces when we do – a grin that says it’s all still new and exciting to us.  I guess I felt like I would get used to it quickly, but that would probably mean it would get old faster so I am completely content with it taking some time.  I have a feeling that Grant will adjust sooner than I will, considering the fact that I also have to write “Wilson” instead of “Riggin” and remember to answer to “Mrs. Wilson, or “Sister Wilson” at church.  We just went to our new ward for the first time last Sunday.  It was the ward I was in until high school, so there were quite a few familiar faces.  However, there were plenty of new people that just called me Sister Wilson because they didn’t know how to pronounce my first name.  It always took a few seconds before I responded, as it needed time to register that they were, in fact, saying my name.  As soon as it does register, I get that same little grin that I have when we call each other husband or wife.  It is absolutely wonderful to be able to use those two words.  It is a constant reminder that we are together forever and that I will have someone right by my side from now on. 

I honestly feel like the luckiest girl on earth to have Grant as my husband… and to know that he chose ME to be his wife.  He is the biggest blessing in my life, one that I can’t imagine living without.  I think the greatest thing about Grant is that he loves me unconditionally for who I am and would never ask me to change a thing about myself.  He makes me feel perfect every single day, though I am far from it.  His focus seems to be 100% on me and how he can make me happy.  I am truly blessed.  I mean, what more could a girl ask for?!

And our story begins...

What a crazy few months it has been!  I decided to start a blog to fill in all our family and friends about what is going on in our new life together.  To catch you up a little….. I arrived home from school BYU Hawaii on April 17^th, and the wedding planning began right away.  I never realized how much goes into planning a wedding until I actually started doing it.  At that point, Grant was still in school and working, and I was busy with wedding business.  We spent as much time as we could together, but it was pretty scarce.  We consistently had our Friday date nights, which mostly consisted of a movie and me falling asleep.  We were both pretty tired at the end of every week : )  The wedding came around before we knew it.  It honestly felt like a week had gone by between April and the end of July.  Our wedding day, July 28th, was so perfect in every way.  Our reception was packed full of people, and we had such a wonderful time.  We were showered with love and gifts from our friends and family and felt so much support.  We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.  We couldn’t be happier to be together or more in love : ) 

After the wedding, we spent two nights in Seattle at a hotel right on Lake Union.  On Sunday, we were able to sleep in a bit, which was definitely needed.  When we woke up, we made lunch reservations at Buca Di Beppo and bought tickets for the Ride the Ducks Tour in Seattle.   Since Buca Di Beppo was only a block away from the hotel, we walked.  It was so beautiful and warm outside, so it was a great little walk… especially after lunch since we ate a bit much : ) After lunch, we were both so full and still exhausted from the wedding that we took a nap before we went to the Ride the Ducks Tour.  The tour was a blast.  The guide was hysterical, and he even played a song for us as newlyweds!  On Sunday evening, we had reservations at my favorite steakhouse in Seattle- Morton’s.  They had a steak and seafood special that came with salad, filet mignon, choice of sea food, side, and dessert.  It was absolutely delicious!!  We definitely ate well while we were in Seattle.  While we waited for our food, we had a complimentary souvenir picture taken of us, which they do if you make reservations for a special occasion at Morton’s.   Makes for a nice, little keepsake.  At the end of our meal, our waiter informed us that our meal had already been taken care of by my step-dad, Rob.  It was such a wonderful surprise!  Once again, we felt so loved : )Grant and I had spent the whole day clad in our “Bride” and “Groom” shirts, so we got lots of smiles and congratulations.  I don’t think Grant enjoyed it as much as I did : )  We headed back home on Monday and spent the whole day moving my stuff into our temporary home and opening our wedding presents.  We got a lot of wonderful stuff!  Grant was most excited about the charcoal grill and grill tool set, which makes sense because most of the other gifts were kitchen things that only I would be excited about.  He is just happy to know that he will get fed because of all those gifts : )

Ride the Ducks tour

Grant and I love married life so far.  We just got back into our normal routine this week, after a week of settling in, our open house in Yakima, and a Wilson family reunion during the weekend.  It’s nice to finally be staying in our own bed and to get back on a schedule.  I love having Grant by my side every night and not having to send him home at the end of the day anymore.  It is so great to have each other to laugh with, talk with, cuddle with, watch movies with, and just be with whenever we are home.  We both love being able to come home to each other after work.  It is such a happy time for us and we feel so blessed to be married and in bliss <3

In case some of you are wondering our plans…  We are currently living in Marysville while Grant finishes his associates this fall.  We are both just working right now, and Grant will start school at the end of September.  We will be here through the end of the year, and then plan on transferring to BYU Idaho in the winter.  We both feel that is where we need to finish schooling.  So, if all goes as planned, we will be in Idaho for the next 3 ½ years for school.  After that, we would love to start a family.  As far as where we will be living then, it all depends on work/master’s program for Grant.  We are excited to see what the future hold for us!  As for now, we are absolutely enjoying being married and all the fun that comes with it.